Abstract A variety of sugars and amino acids were tested for their ability to attract the slime mold Physarum polycephalum. Among those sugars that are metabolized by the mold d -glucose and d -galactose were the most potent attractants. Both 2-deoxy- d -glucose and 3-O-methyl- d -glucose were as good attractants as the metabolizable sugar, d -glucose. Analogs that are related to glucose appear to be slightly more potent as attractants than those related to galactose. Structure-activity relationship of several sugars and sugar derivatives indicate that those analogs that possess maximal stability in the preferred “chair” conformation have maximal attractant potencies while those in which the pyranose ring is transiently distorted or isomerized to the furanose form are poor attractants. Although a number of well metabolized sugars (e.g., glucose, galactose, maltose) were shown to be attractants, the data indicate that nutritional usefulness of a sugar is not prerequisite for its chemoattractant effectiveness. The study on the ability of amino acids to attract Physarum indicates that these agents as a group are poorer attractants than the sugars. Among the amino acids the best attractants are asparagine, glycine, alanine, serine, glutamic acid and threonine. As in the case of sugars and their derivatives, there is no necessary correlation between the nutritional usefulness of these amino acids and their chemotactic effects.
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